Week 8 - Are subcultures a sign of revolt or an expression of style?

Stanley Cohen saw subculture as being a threat to social values and interests by a person or group of people. A significant sign of revolt can be shown by the skinhead subculture, by being linked with criminal activity, portraying themselves as working class via dress sense in Ben Sherman shirts, tatty jeans, and boots, additionally they listened to music of the ska genre. Others will see these people as being harmless and just expressing their style by costume and grammar used as a way of reacting to the political goings on at the time. Additionally Punks expression of style was distinguished and exposed through lyric in song, clothing, and even art work. ‘God Save the Queen’ by the Sex Pistols saw an album cover which revealed much response due to its shocking nature as they aimed to outrage society with behaviour. The 70s strikes can be an excuse to their revolt, while others thought they were a ‘creative mess’. Thus, subcultures can be taken up as being both revolt and expression

Week 7 - Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?

Popular music can change political stance by motivating and bringing awareness to the people. Some musical forms with their effects have had to be banned by the government as they were so powerful. Protest Songs for instance Red Wedge with The Red Flag, supporting the Labour Party in the 89 Elections, were used to enforce political movement. But their fail of winning shows how popular music isn’t always a force for political change. Even National Anthems which show a symbol of the country has political residence, being the reason why England v Ireland at Croke Park, Ireland didn’t want England’s anthem sung as last time both played at Croke Park, Ireland supporters were shoot. While Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday pushed barriers of segregation. However there is no factual evidence that such music has changed anything. This music is seen more as a soundtrack to the life at the time and its happenings, rather than making any political change. ‘Awareness’ campaigns (or as Shuker calls ‘conscious rock’) such as Band Aid can be seen as helping situations in third world countries by raising money, but there has been no long term solving of the problem, and on the other hand it helps the careers of the artists more so.

Week 6 - Is DRM the best way to save the music industry?

Its hard to say if Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the best way to save the music industry so what has to be taken into account is whether the music industry actually needs saving at all. DRM is utilised in order to protect the rights of artists’ music copyright (as well as other media forms such as film). This restriction helps in creating a fair usage of music in a legal form, which in turn allows artists and record companies do better regarding money and overall record success as more people are paying for their music. Although few sites allow for piracy to occur, such as Limewire, where illegal downloading takes place on a large file sharing basis online, therefore causing a problem for the industries financial status. And new networks can always be replaced once caught out and stopped i.e. Napster once closed down was soon replace with the likes of WinMX and Limewire. A positive to a lack in DRM is that it can lead to the purchasing of an artists music as consumers can sample the track online to know what it sounds like, for instance as iTunes does. Despite music being downloaded illegally, a correct compatibility with the right music player is still needed which can hold those downloaders at a disadvantage. DRM may not be the finest way to retain the music industry as long as a market for free downloads are available.